Flash Gordon

Tongue-in-cheek update of the cliffhanger serials of yesteryear. If you are in the right mood, this is a brilliant gaudy comic bauble of an entertainment packed full of winking dialogue and over-acting. Purists will be appalled. I thought it was a total delight. Ornella Muti has never been more luscious, Timothy Dalton never more rugged (for a man-in-tights) - all this and a Queen soundtrack! Highly recommended.

-The Sloth

Not a perfect movie, but definitely a fun one. Ridiculously sublime or sublimely ridiculous? Jones (and whoever dubbed him) and Anderson are callow, but if the leads had been more experienced, the movie wouldn't have the same effect. Same goes for Queen's soundtrack. As it is, the real stars are the supporting cast and the production design, and rightfully so. Blessed gives perhaps the most gloriously hammy performance in cinematic history, while Wyngarde gives one of the most laconic. Great fun, and I for one am glad no one decided to make Flash Gordon a "serious" science fiction film.

-Dave W.
Note: Sam J. Jones is most emphtatically dubbed for about 80 percent of his lines, though some seem to deny that, and the voice-over artist has never been identified. You can hear Jones' actual voice a few times, though, most notably when he first arrives on Arboria.